Marion County, West Virginia    Biography of Martin Luther BROWN

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Submitted by Patty Tyler, <PTyler107@aol.com>, March 2000
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The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, 
The American Historical Society, Inc. 
Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 126


    Martin Luther Brown, cashier of the Fairmont State Bank, one of the 
substantial financial institutions of the judicial center of Marion County, 
was born on a farm in Clinton District, Monongalia County, West Virginia, on 
the 20th of March, 1867, and is the eldest son of Jabez A. and Mary V. 
(Galliher) Brown. The father was born in Monongalia County in the year of 
1844, and his entire active career was marked by close association with farm 
enterprise, his death having occurred in 1903. He was a son of Jabez Brown, 
Sr., who was born at Brown's Mills, Harrison County, West Virginia, in 1802, 
a son of Jabez, who was too young for service as a soldier in the War of the 
Revolution, but whose service patriotism was expressed in his service as a 
teamster with General Washington's army. After the close of the war Jabez 
Brown (I) came to what is now Harrison County, West Virginia, where he 
reclaimed a farm at the place now known as Brown's Mills. He was born in New 
Jersey, where representatives of the family, including, probably, his father, 
settled upon removal from Connecticut. The father of the subject of this 
sketch was a republican, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist 
Church. Mrs. Brown was born in Marion County, a daughter of William Galliher, 
whose wife was a member of the Miller family that became prominently 
identified with the pioneer history of this country.
    Martin L. Brown was reared on the old home farm that was the place of his 
birth, and his youthful educational advantages included those of the 
University of West Virginia. At the age of seventeen he became a successful 
teacher in the rural schools, and at the age of twenty-three years he was 
appointed county superintendent of schools for his native county, to fill out 
an unexpired term, in 1890.
    Thereafter he was regularly elected to this office for a term of two 
years. In Monongalia County he also served as deputy clerk of the Circuit 
Court for two years, and for several years he was chief clerk in the post 
office at Morgantown. He next held for three years the position of teller in 
the farmer's & Merchants bank at Morgantown, and later served as assistant 
cashier of the Citizen's National Bank of that city.
    In 1906 he organized the bank of Morgantown, and of the same he continued 
the cashier until January 1, 1911, when he resigned to accept the office of 
warden of the West Virginia Penitentiary. he held this position for four 
years, and for the ensuing three years was engaged in the insurance business 
at Morgantown, West Virginia. he had given eleven years of service as a 
member of the Morgantown Board of Education, of which he was secretary during 
this period.
    In 1917 Mr. Brown was elected cashier of the Fairmont State Bank, and he 
has since been numbered among the progressive business men and honored 
citizens of the county seat of Marion County, where also he is a director of 
the Fairmont Tool Company. He is treasurer of the local Red Cross, a member 
of the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, and is affiliated with the 
Masonic fraternity and the Odd fellows. In political matters he has been an 
active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
    The first marriage of Mr. Brown was with Miss Sallie K. Duncan, who was 
born in Clinton District, Monongalia County, a daughter of Charles H. Duncan, 
and whose death occurred in 1899. She is survived by two children, Nellie G. 
and Ross D. For his second wife Mr. Brown wedded Miss Cora B. Duncan, 
daughter of Joseph R. Duncan, of Pittsburgh, and the child of this union is 
Joseph T.